The Conservation of Names
by Userunfriendly
Summary: This is the story of You and me. This is the story of our love, our children, our life together. This is the story of our joys, our sorrows and everything in between. This is the story of you and me. From "Everybody Lies" by Allison Irene House.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Robert Chase

There are two people in this story. This story is about Gregory and Allison. They've been doing a peculiar dance for a long time now. When she moves in closer, he pulls back. When he moves in closer, she pulls back. They're so afraid of finally touching, this fear colors everything that they do. But they are even more terrified of leaving the dance, because this is all they have. This dance is too precious for both of them to want the music to end. It is the great tragedy and the great hope of the human condition that everything changes. Some day, the music will end for both of them, someday, the dance will finally end. The question is will they end up in each other's arms, or away from the one that they love? Because this dance is and has always been about love.

"Dr. Cameron, thanks for coming in." Lisa Cuddy ushered in the young immunologist into her office, or as House referred it, "The Dragon's Lair: Trespassers will be eaten!" The young doctor looked wary, yet quietly confident in herself. This was not the young idealist House hired three years ago. Young immunologist, young doctor, young idealist. Cuddy realized what was different about Allison Cameron, and why her own descriptions of Allison Cameron no longer fit. She wasn't young anymore, the naiveté of youth was gone.

"I suppose you've guessed why I called you in here, this morning?" It had been two days since Cameron had given her resignation letter to House. In typical "House" behavior, he had neglected to inform Cuddy that one of her doctors had just quit. As usual, it had been Wilson who informed her of Cameron's resignation. It wasn't...unexpected, given House's recent actions. It was undoubtedly Cameron's strong sense of personal loyalty and friendship that had made her quit in protest of the unfair way in which he had fired Robert Chase.

"My resignation." Cameron didn't want to be here. It was time for her to go.

"House was really unfair in firing Dr. Chase. I know that, and everyone else knows that too. I'm going to offer Dr. Chase a position in NICU, because it was really wrong for House to fire Chase..." began Cuddy.

"Please don't, Dr. Cuddy. House was right to fire Chase." interrupted Cameron. To say that Cuddy was shocked was an understatement...

"You can't mean that, Cameron! House was..."

"Doing the RIGHT thing for Chase. That's what House does. That's what House always does." Cameron bitterly whispered her last sentence.

"Cameron, I don't understand."

Cameron took a deep breath. "House firing Rob...I mean Chase was an unselfish, selfless act. Chase needed to leave from here, for his own sake, and House knew he'd never leave on his own. Chase is too comfortable here, too...afraid to become the doctor he could be. House gave him a kick in the pants, for his own good, for his development as a doctor. Because of the three of us, Chase has the greatest talent and ability. Here, he'd always be under the shadow of House, he needs the responsibility and challenge he can't get here. That's why Chase isn't mad at all, he's grateful to House."

"Cameron, I still don't understand." Interesting slip by Cameron, almost calling Chase "Robert".

"Of the three of us, Chase has the most of the same...gift that House has. He sees things like House does, the small details, the minor insignificant things that turn out later to be the crucial clue that solves the case. He thinks like House does, seeing multiple facets of the same data, he has House's INTUITION. It was Chase who diagnosed Alice correctly with congenital erythropoietic porphyria when House failed, and he was the one who diagnosed Fran with methyl bromide poisoning while you and House were on that Pandemic Conference. There's only one House. And Chase is the only one of us who has begun to develop that almost supernatural ability that House has, to see the things that everyone else misses."

To say that Lisa Cuddy was taken back would be an understatement.

"I always thought that Foreman was the smart one." Cuddy muttered to herself.

"There's a lot of smart doctors out there, with loads of academic credentials, and tons of learning. There's only one House." Cameron repeated herself. House, House, House. It seemed to her, despite all she could do, her life seemed to revolve like the Moon around the Earth. And like the Moon, which has only one face to the denizens of the planet Earth, no matter how she tried, she always found herself looking toward him. To House.

"Then why did House fire Chase? I mean, he could become such an asset to the department, having someone else with the same ability to diagnose patients like House would be OUTSTANDING! Unless...I mean, could House be jealous?" This last possibility worried Cuddy. God knew the narcissistic old jerk liked being the King of the Hill, the Big Fish in the Small Pond, the Go-To Guy. Could he see Chase as eventually becoming a better Diagnostician than the master?

"No! Dr. Cuddy, can you see anyone ever becoming as good of a Diagnostician as House? Seriously?" At Cuddy's shake of her head, the two women shared a grin. It had often seemed to Cuddy that she spent more time dealing with House than in running her hospital. She often felt like one of the planets, orbiting around the Sun. No matter how she tried to turn away, inevitably she merely spun herself around her own axis, ending up facing him again and again, like a planet. To House.

"Then why did House fire Chase?"

"House fired Chase for his own sake. Here, at Princeton-Plainsboro, we all...lean on House. We can't help it, he is a genius. He's been wrong about a case since I've worked here, maybe twice? There's a paradox in teaching medicine. House is a brilliant teacher. He knows that the best way to learn is to make mistakes. We might forget our successes, but our mistakes, we carry forever. But when you're a doctor, mistakes cost lives." At Cameron's last sentence, Cuddy was stricken with a sense of deja-vu. How many years has it been since she had said that exact same thing to House?

"If Chase stays here, he would always need House to check his diagnosis. We all do it, we rely on House to fix OUR mistakes. Our failures shouldn't cost our patient their lives or health. But away from here, Chase will have a chance to make his own mistakes, to learn, to accept responsibility. He needs that, Robert has been afraid of the responsibility of being the Attending all his career. To be the final say in the treatment of a patient is terrifying. But he truly needs that. That's why House has been pushing him, torturing him, berating and humiliating him for the past four years. Until day before yesterday, when he snapped and yelled at House about Foreman. Robert was telling House that he was ready, finally READY to stand up on his own." Cameron had always known there were undercurrents of father and son with the two of them, and in his own way, House had been more supportive of Robert, more of a real father to him than Rowan Chase. A sudden thought struck Cameron. Could this have been one of the reasons why Rowan Chase had visited here almost two years ago? Perhapse to take measure of the man, of House himself? From Robert, Cameron had learned Rowan was dying when he had visited Princeton-Plainsboro. He had come to see what kind of man would take over for him after he passed away. He wanted to see the mentor who would guide his son into manhood.

Much of the same thoughts passed through Lisa Cuddy's mind. House was an incredibly brilliant teacher, albeit with a style that consisted of doing every single wrong thing found in books about teaching. But the results were...jaw-dropping. She looked at the strong, confident Doctor who sat before her, and compared her to the nervous, desperate to please, emotional Girl she had hired three years ago. It wasn't so much working for House that had matured her, but the job. Being a doctor forced an emotional maturation process on a person, from the pain, death, and witnessing the human suffering that was an inevitable part of medicine itself. House, unlike almost every other mentor, never cushioned it, never tried to comfort his students.(Quite the opposite.) That gave them the self confidence, the assurance of the knowledge that they could bear it alone, without leaning on someone. It also didn't escape Cuddy's notice that at least a part of all this was Cameron's own feelings about House. Quitting was her way of telling House that SHE was ready? She also hoped that Cameron was finally over House. She had called Chase "Robert" without thinking, without notice. Cuddy hoped that Cameron was finally getting over her "schoolgirl" crush. A crush that had inspired a lot of nasty rumors at the hospital, among a staff that could not possibly conceive of how the most beautiful doctor in the hospital could hopelessly fall for the worst. But Cuddy knew better, knew what an amazingly fascinating person hid within the prickly exterior of one Gregory House. She, out of everyone else, had always understood Cameron's infatuation.

Groping for something, anything to say, Lisa Cuddy said the first thing on her mind while she tried to cope with her suddenly changed worldview with a wholly different perspective of one Dr. Robert Chase. This would have the unintentional consequence of giving her yet another psychological jolt...

"Um...Cameron, just how far do you think Chase will go? As a Diagnostician, I mean."

"Maybe after a couple of decades or so, he might be half as good as House. But he's not an autistic savant genius like House. And he's not as damaged as House." Cameron whispered her last sentence so softly that only she heard it inside her mind. House had always been right, she wanted to fix him, not to reshape him into her own conceptualization of a perfect man, but because that's what you want to do for the man you love, if he's in pain.

"What?!" So that's what Cameron had been doing for three years. She's been learning...House? Because Cameron was right, House was all that. And more...

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Gregory House (Part One)

(Author's Note: In Season #, Episode 21, "Family" you can see Hector chew up a book belonging to House on the rug. It is "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling.)

"How...what makes you say House is autistic?" Asked Dr. Cuddy. She knew where this was going, she's been at the same place. The same, EXACT place as Cameron was, right now.

"Because he has autistic-savant abilities. The emotional detachment, and the mildness of his psychological impairments indicate Asperger's. It fits." It was a relief for Allison Cameron to talk to someone about her pet obsession. He was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Most of her life, men would approach her, and spend hours talking to her about themselves at the drop of a hat, trying to stumble over in their inane non-stop monologue the magic phrases that would intrigue her enough to let them inside her pants. God, they were SO boring! With House, every single word about himself had to be pried loose from between his clenched teeth, every scrap of information had to be fought for. You know some of it is a game, part of his image, but so much of it is not. Even if she did somehow manage to fully understand him, Cameron knew that he would always continue to dangerously intrigue her. So she had studied him, like a specimen under a microscope. To detach her emotions during the course of her investigations. He had taught her to do that.

"So you've noticed? He seems to have not just one, or several splinter skills. House has all of them." It was a relief for Lisa Cuddy to finally find someone to talk about her pet obsession. He was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Lisa Cuddy knew House better than anyone else, probably even including his parents and James Wilson. She had known him for over two decades, she was and still is his oldest friend. Even when he didn't want her friendship. Especially then. He was the most infuriating, fascinating and intriguing man she'd ever known. He made every other man she'd met pale in comparison. They were two dimensional, monochromatic and lackluster next to him. She knew more about House's troubled past than anyone, because she had been right there. She knew much of his hidden history, yet they failed to explain so much of the inner man, of House. But she would never give up trying to understand him. He had taught her to do that.

"His memory is...prodigious. He seems to have read and know every single medical journal printed since he became a doctor. And while his depth of knowledge for Immunology, Neurology and Intensive Care medicine isn't as complete as ours, since those are not his specialties, his breadth of knowledge about esoteric diseases, and exotic presentations in those three fields is...literally breathtaking. He seems to have remembered everything he's ever studied or read..." Cameron began.

"Yeah, totally..." Cuddy stopped as Cameron gave an involuntary snort.

"Sorry, Dr. Cuddy, a few weeks ago, I was channel surfing, when I had a headache, and I caught "Clueless", and I was just thinking what our colleagues would say if we talked, you know, oh my gawd, like totally brainless ditzes from San Fernando Valley."

"They'd call the fourth floor, and sit on us until the psych orderlies arrive." Cuddy grinned at the image, especially imagining House's expression. "Anyway, not only does he have that almost eidetic memory usually attributed to savant-ism, but he has the mental calculator ability as well..." began Cuddy.

"Yes! Remember when Sebastian Charles was here? He did some mental subtraction and multiplication with the number of minutes in a day and year without pausing or even thinking about it. I was very impressed."

"Um...Cameron, you always had to use a calculator, right? And you didn't score so well in math?"

"Actually, you're right. I only passed Calculus because of tutoring help after classes."

"House doing simple stuff like that is...childs play for him. I've seen him multiply, divide, and prime factorize very large numbers, and derive the square root of numbers with over six digits in his head." Now Cameron was really impressed. Math had always been difficult for her, along with the hard sciences. Her determination and constant study had overcame these obstacles in her path to become a doctor, but she had always had a hidden spot of envy for those for whom it came naturally. Allison Cameron took a moment to appreciate where she was. Chatting with her former boss, as if they'd been friends for years. She had always been...jealous of Dr. Lisa Cuddy, jealous of her strength of will in dealing with running a major metropolitan hospital, and dealing (though not always successfully) with a major pain in the butt, one Gregory House, MD. She had been jealous of her spectacular figure, and her attractive yet strong face. And, she admitted to her inner self, House paid attention to her. Granted, it was the kind of attention that would get anyone else fired for sexual harassment, but attention none the less. There was none of that maddening ambiguity that she had with House, that sense of unresolved feelings and emotions that fueled her own speculation and frustrations. But it didn't matter anymore, she was with Chase now, and she was leaving. She was so tired...she was so tired that despite their relationship, she still thought of Robert by his last name. Stop that! Robert, Robert, Robert!

"You know, Dr. Cuddy, I read somewhere that autism, is like the universe is screaming at you. That in some forms of autism, the person is so overwhelmed with the flood of information he or she is unable to filter out the important from the unimportant. The brain becomes overloaded, and in a reverse form of sensory deprivation, they're unable to function, because they can't ignore unimportant data. But what if the person is a genius? If House is autistic, with that intellect of his, what if he's USING everything he sees, hears, smells and tastes? This explains his incredible perception, his ability to simply glance at a patient, and see all the clues that reveal the hidden details that you or I would miss. This is why I believe House is an autistic savant genius." Funny to think that the trait she shared with Dr. Cuddy was their mutual fascination with the most perplexing man alive. He was the most infuriating, fascinating and intriguing man she'd ever known. He made every other man she'd met pale in comparison. They were two dimensional, monochromatic and lackluster next to him.

"Or he's not autistic at all." replied Dr. Cuddy. Cameron's theory was rather good, actually. It paralleled her own reasoning, years ago. Cameron had always seemed to be a bit slow to her eyes, someone not as smart as Foreman. But then again, she had thought that Chase was an idiot...

"Huh?" replied Cameron intelligently.

"I've been in the same place as you, Cameron. I thought for years that House is autistic, it was such a convenient way to simply label him, and dismiss his...anti-social traits as autism, something he can't help. But really, Cameron, that is such a cop out. He's been cruel to you for three years! What does House have to do to you make you hate him? Yeah, sure, 'House is autistic, and he has Asperger's, he can't help being cruel and mean.' That allows you to forgive the times he's treated you with contempt, with condescension and deliberately went out of his way to hurt you. You're demeaning yourself, Cameron. You deserve his respect, you deserve his confidence, and even if he doesn't care for you as a person, you deserve civility as a colleague." Cuddy stopped, and took a deep breath. She had once told Wilson that House wasn't autistic, he was a jerk. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. She had been there, she had seen the fun loving "Greggy" die and become the aching void of "House." She had been there when the light in his eyes had died, with his sister's death.

"Cameron, stop making excuses for him. Sometimes Occam's Razor is right. House is a jerk. He is brilliant, and yes, I completely agree he's a genius. Geniuses have incredible memory for facts, and some of them are mental calculators. But House is the way he is because...he wants to be." Cuddy said the last part sadly.

"But Dr. Cuddy, what about all the things he can do? Those things aren't...skills anyone can acquire, even geniuses!" Cameron didn't want to let go of her pet theory. That would mean that House had been cruel to her deliberately all these years, and she couldn't even admit to herself how devastated that would leave her. Cuddy had said almost the exact same thing House had said after Foreman had stuck her with a tainted needle. God, she was pathetic. House was right to reject her. Why else would House push her away?

"I saw House pick up tournament level speed chess in three weeks. Back in Michigan, when he was still an intern, he was known as a big track and fields man. So some of the chess club members made snide comments, about the jock med student. You know, nerd competitiveness. So House taught himself speed chess, and proceeded to soundly thrash all of them over the space of an afternoon." Cameron couldn't help smiling at Cuddy's use of the phrase "nerd competitiveness." She had always been athletic in high school, even cheerleading, doing all the popular in-crowd things. But in college, in the pre-med track, she had her first taste in "nerd competitiveness" where your brain power counted, rather than how fast you could run the hundred. Intellect was the game, and being someone who had to work hard to make good grades, she was rather low on the totem pole. Even if all the guys wanted to date her. She had wondered about House, based on his sports background AND his intellect. He probably rubbed his ability in both fields in everyone's faces just to tick them off.

"And as for the perception...do you know what his favorite fiction book is? 'Kim' by Rudyard Kipling. Have you read it?" Cameron shook her head.

"Kim is a story of the orphaned son of a soldier in the Irish regiment in India. It is really a story about a boy who lived in both the east and west growing up in India under the Raj, and the young Kim's greatest wish was...to become a spy. His life ambition was to work in Intelligence for the British Empire. For the fun and the glory of becoming a secret agent." Cameron shook her head, thinking about why House would like the story of a boy who wanted to become a spy, for...the sheer romance of it? It sounded like him.

Cuddy was thinking that exact same thing. "Anyway, one of Kim's mentors, a man called Lurgen Sahib taught him a game called 'The Play of the Jewels.' In it, Lurgen would hold up a closed tray full of random gems, and open the tray for a few seconds, then Kim would be required to list in detail everything he had seen, type of gem, carat weight, flaws, colors and anything else of interest. After House and I had started hanging out, back when I was still a junior med student and he was a senior intern, the first time I invited him over to my dorm room, he showed me that someone can pick this talent up. He bet me a hundred that I could open my door for five seconds, and he could describe my room in complete detail. Naturally I took him up in that bet. He got it perfect, down to Mr. Snuffleupagus, my stuffed animal with the bandaged paw. He explained later that after his Oma, dutch grandmother had read 'Kim' to him the first time when he was eight, he made her help him learn and master this game. She would gather knickknacks and curios all over her house, and they used an old chest with a lid. Apparently by the time he was ten or so, he had mastered it." A suspicious twitch appeared at the corner of Dr. Cuddy's lips, as if she was trying to suppress a grin at the memory. Apparently, the House she had known back in Michigan was...kinder? Or simply more human? Then, Cameron had a sudden idea...

"Or House broke into your room while you were at class, and set you up." said Cameron with a grin of her own.

"Damn! That never occurred to me before!" exclaimed Cuddy.

"Well, really, either possibility could be true, considering that this is House. Um...Dr. Cuddy, how did you meet him?" asked Cameron, greatly daring. There had long been rumors that House and Cuddy had been dating back when they were younger.

"Much more subtle this time, Dr. Cameron. Well, I met him first when he played a trick on me. As the senior intern for the legendary Dr. Mira Saicoctu, I was in a group of med students he was showing around..."

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Gregory House (Part Two)

"Why do I get the feeling, Dr. Cuddy, that the story of the first time you met House is going to be funny, dirty, or involve humiliation on someone's part?" said Dr. Allison Cameron with a big grin. Cameron settled back in her chair. This was going to be good.

"How about all three? Ok, so House was leading this bunch of very young, very eager med students around, including yours truly, wearing the expression suitable for a heretic being led to a stake piled high with firewood. Well, the first thing he did was to lead us to the Morgue, where he goes up to a body lying on a slab. He proceeds to flip it over, so it is lying on its stomach. He then gives us a speech..." Cameron couldn't help but grin at the thought of House's expression. She could so imagine his...indescribable loathing at having to babysit a bunch of med students.

"'It is absolutely necessary to have two important qualities as a Doctor of Medicine: the first is that you're not disgusted by anything involving the human body.' He said that, then to everyone's utter revulsion, House stuck his finger in the corpse's...butt and after pulling it out, licked it." The way Dr. Cuddy hesitated in naming that part of the human anatomy, something that a doctor should have no problem with, made Cameron suspicious...

"Then House said, ' You all have to do this, in turn, or you will all get an "F" for today.' Naturally, everyone refused. Except..." began Cuddy, with a not-very-well-hidden mortified expression on her face.

"One Dr. Lisa Cuddy." said Cameron with certainty. Now she knew why Cuddy had edited herself...

"One Lisa Cuddy. After I licked my finger, I ran into the bathroom, threw up, rinsed my mouth with disinfectant soap. But damned if I was going to give that smug bastid the satisfaction."

"What happened next?"

"Well, when I emerged out of the bathroom, House was still waiting, and now he just looked vastly amused. Gah!! Then he said 'The second most important quality is observation. I stuck in my index finger and sucked on my middle finger. Now learn to pay attention!'" Cameron burst out laughing at the conclusion of Dr. Cuddy's story. It was such a completely...House thing for him to do!! It not only combined a nasty sense of humor, but drove in a lesson about observing, as opposed to merely watching. Something that he had been trying to teach the three of them from day one.

"Then House declared everyone got an 'F' for the day, except me, I got a 'B', and when I squawked in protest, he came right next to me and said 'You get a B for having two big ones under your belt, but you still need to pay better attention. Don't worry, I disinfected the cadaver. You know, I've been doing this trick for a while now, and you're the first one to call me on it.' I replied that it wasn't that, I just refused to give him the satisfaction. And that's how we started to become friends." House in Michigan had been...fun. Everybody knows the urban legend of medical students using dressed cadavers to drive on the carpool lanes, but House was the only person she had ever known who had actually (sorta) done this. After coming back from an Easter visit to Ohio, he had regaled Lisa with the story of how he had used a skeleton, a fedora, a piece of string and a trenchcoat to make excellent time despite the holiday traffic.(The string was tied to the skeleton, and House would pull on it as they drove past cops, to make it move like a real person.) House's parents were not amused, but his little sister had literally fallen down giggling and laughing. She had insisted on sitting "Fatty" at the dinner table, solicitously offering him roast beef and mashed potatoes. His poor sister...and poor House.

Allison Cameron, once she managed to get her giggles under control, realized that Lisa Cuddy knew instinctively from day one the quintessential rule in dealing with one Gregory House, Jerk extraordinaire. Never back down, never roll over, and never ever give him the satisfaction. Cuddy had always known how to handle House. Something that she had failed so badly, so often.

"So you started dating House back then?" She had to know...

"We never dated. Even if we both didn't have type A personalities, which meant it was doomed from the start, really, the reason we were friends was because...I refused to sleep with him." Lisa Cuddy had always been...jealous of Dr. Allison Cameron, jealous of her gentle inner strength and compassion, and dealing (though not always successfully) with a major pain in the butt, one Gregory House, MD. She had been jealous of her flawless figure, and her classic, refined beauty. And, she admitted to her inner self, House paid attention to her. Granted, it was the kind of attention that would get anyone else sued for sexual harassment, but attention none the less. There was none of that maddening clash of will that she had daily with House, that sense of unresolved endings and what-could-have-beens that fueled her own regrets.

"What?" Way to go, Allison, brilliant interrogation method. Looks like your three years with House are a total write off.

"House was...not so bitter back in Michigan. He was handsome, incredibly smart, an athlete, and a wicked, clever sense of humor. He had a lot of girls back then, each one of them hoping to land a future brilliant doctor. Cameron, can you imagine his reaction to that motivation? He slept with them, a lot of them, and dumped them. And he dumped them in a not-very-nice fashion, and word got around. By the time I'd met him, well, let's just say aside from his musician friends, I was the only person willing to spend time with him. And I'd made very clear to him that I would not to sleep with him. I was...saving it for my marriage. Of course, that's when the comments started. And never stopped. But he respected my decision, he just had to test it every single day. But that's House, don't you know?" Cameron did indeed know. It was something of a shock to hear about a House that wasn't as bitter and as cruel as he was now. Not that it really surprised her. She had never believed Stacy, who had obviously been trying to avoid implicating herself, saying that House was just the same now as when they'd met for the first time. And House testing Cuddy's resolve...well, she could totally imagine the first House comment to Dr. Lisa Cuddy...

"How hard did you slap him, the first time?"

"Enough to sprain my wrist. I punched him. Remember the scar he has on his jawline? My grandmother's antique amethyst ring." Cuddy grinned at the younger doctor. God, she had resented Allison Cameron for such a long time. She was too professional to let it color her dealings with the immunologist, but everyone probably noticed her coldness tword Cameron. She never quite realized exactly when it happened, when she had fallen for Gregory House, back in Michigan. She had lost him three times. Shortly after they had finally begun dating, she lost him when the only person he had ever unconditionally loved died. Allison House, his half sister. She had lost him again when Stacy had appeared, when Stacy had brought back the sparkle in his eyes, the ones she thought were forever extinguished by the loss of his "Allie". And lastly, when House had hired Allison Cameron, Cameron had made the ashes in his eyes go away. Now that she was leaving, she could finally give up the unfounded, irrational hostility she had felt for her. And made her feel guilty for so long. She had called in Cameron to ask her to reconsider her resignation, for the good of her hospital. But as she looked closer at her former employee, she saw the same thing she had seen in her own mirror, when House had hired Cameron. She saw the wound in her heart, and she knew it was no good asking Cameron to stay another day. To stay another day with House, who had hurt her. To stay with the man that they had both loved. To stay with the man she still loved? Did she still love House? And to whom was she asking the question, to Cameron or to herself? Lisa shook her head at her inability to answer her own questions.

There was still one thing that Cuddy had to know...

"Cameron, why did Foreman quit?"

"Ego and...fear." Lisa Cuddy nodded at Cameron, encouraging her to continue.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Eric Foreman

"Dr. Cuddy, didn't it strike you as strange when you heard Foreman's reason for quitting? He didn't want to become like House? Is that reason really consistent with the Dr. Eric Foreman we've all known and come to love?" Cameron smiled.

"No. Not even remotely. The same Foreman who showed up here with not only a medical degree, and neurological specialty, the hardest, but also a MBA. The Foreman who wanted to be the de facto Department head of Diagnostics, running the operations while House did all the work. The Foreman who..." began Lisa Cuddy. Cuddy mentally kicked herself. Part and parcel of being Hospital Administrator was to understand people, understand the doctors who worked for her.

"...always had the attitude 'I am as good as House, but nicer'. Robert called it. Foreman had walked into this job believing if he just stuck around long enough, put up with House, he'd inherit the mantle as the favored Protégé, House's best pupil. Then Robert diagnosed Alice. He wasn't the smartest of the three of us anymore. I've always suspected that Foreman has always been...insecure? I mean, graduating at the top of his class at Hopkins...for me it was hard enough graduating near the top of my class at Columbia, so I know what its like to make the push to end up as Valedictorian. To me, the clincher was his MBA. I think he's always had something to prove, something that drove him to excel. He's always had to prove himself to be smarter than everyone else. When we lost Lupe, the girl with the Staph aureus endocarditis, it was Foreman who pushed when House...couldn't come up with anything. It was Foreman who blamed himself for failing. It was Foreman who failed to live up to his own expectations of himself." One thing had always bothered Cameron. Had House deliberately abandoned Lupe's case just to...test Foreman? To see if Foreman had the chops to make a great doctor? Yes, House was that ruthless. He was completely capable of risking and losing a young girl's life just to test someone. But he was no colder than Lisa Cuddy, who was capable of sacrificing Abigail's life, the young dwarf girl who wasn't a dwarf, just to keep House. Cuddy had weighed the life of one girl against the hundreds House would save in the future, and found her wanting. She had listened outside Cuddy's door when she was talking to Wilson.

"And Foreman left because..."

"He was starting to feel. He said he didn't want to become House, but the truth is that he's always envied House's coldness and detachment, and Lupe scared him. Her death and his reaction terrified him. He started caring for her, and lost that emotional distance he had when he started here." Cameron bit her lip, in an effort to condense three years of observing and assessment into something brief, something that Dr. Cuddy could understand. She didn't have House's or Robert's ability to understand, process and winnow through the huge amount of information they gathered about a patient, and make an accurate and complete diagnosis. She was the slow plodder, double and triple checking things. But the things she did understand, she stood by and had faith in her conclusions.

"Foreman came here three years ago, with his goal firmly in mind. He wanted to use House's reputation as a steppingstone to get his own department, and quite possibly his own hospital in the far future. That's why he was always so...antagonistic, driven to prove House wrong. For a long time, he believed that House had been...lucky? Or he didn't deserve the reputation he has in the medical community. Which is what made him so valuable to House. House wanted, needed someone who's always ready to point out an error, looking over his shoulder to instantly criticize any mistake, any lapse in work. Of the three of us, House needs Foreman the most. And then, Foreman found out with Lupe and other patients, that he's...human after all, that the goal he's been after all his professional life didn't seem quite so important as trying to save a dying young woman. So he got scared. Scared that his goals didn't matter as much as they used to, scared that he didn't have what it takes to reach what he'd been working so long for. Notice his first choice for job application, New York Mercy? He wanted something safe and boring, just to...ease himself back into what he thinks he should be, what he thinks he wants to be. Another House." Trying to pin down Foreman's motivations was difficult, because he himself wasn't sure what he wanted, and over the past year, he's been changing. Ever since he was infected with Naegleria, Foreman had been taking a deeper look inside himself, and finding he didn't much like what he saw. House was right, and wrong. The changes Foreman had from a near-death experience hadn't lasted, but it had caused Foreman to re-evaluate himself, and the process, while gradual, (spread out over a year) it had inevitably led to Foreman quitting.

Cuddy leaned back, and tried to digest Cameron's words. Cameron had always underestimated herself, she may not have House's brilliance and Chase's potential, or Foreman's academics, but her insights were dead on the money. She...understood people, she...understood House, a feat in and of itself. Cuddy remembered the unfocused, unsure and young doctor she hired three years ago. Cameron was...more Cameron than when she started here, she had become more of who she was. She had made decisions on what type of person she wanted to become, and worked to become that person. House. Not entirely his...tutorship, no, the job of a doctor made people grow up.(Something that House never quite managed!) But she could see the subtle touches of the master in Allison Cameron, the constant questioning and attacks had made her discard the parts of her personality that she had created just to please others. She was who she was, she had become the person SHE wanted to be.

"Um...Cameron, there is something that I'd like to ask you...I know you want to quit, and I respect your decision. I know your accrued vacation and sick leave is more than three weeks, so you don't have to worry about your three week notice, but I'd like to ask you to come in and help House out during the transition. Please?"

"I...can't, Dr. Cuddy. Besides, it's June, remember?"

"Oh yeah, you always take two week off in June. Why?"

"I visit my sister in Seattle, and we visit our mom in Chicago. We live far apart so our annual visits are precious."

"Ok, but Allison? Can I ask you one last question? Why are you leaving him?" They both knew who "him" was. There was only one true "him" in their lives, only one "him" for both of them.

Cameron stood up, and grabbing her coat and purse, turned to leave. Cuddy hadn't really expected an answer anyway.

"I can't stand to be crushed anymore." Cameron whispered to Cuddy before leaving her office, praying that "he" was late as usual, so she wouldn't run into "him". The real reason was heartbreakingly simple. If she stayed, someday, he might let her in. He might let her inside, allow her to love him. And when he left, she would be broken past bearing, past mending. It was better that she was gone.

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

(Before you read this chapter, search and watch "Nina Conti" on the "2002 The Floor Show" on Youtube. First of all it is a riot, and second I got the inspiration for the main skit in this chapter from her hilarious act with Monkey. She is Funny!)

Chapter Five: Sock Puppets?!

Cameron left quickly, obviously the poor girl wanted to avoid House. Dr. Lisa Cuddy gave herself the luxury of sitting back for a few minutes, remembering and thinking.

Wilson ran into Cuddy's office, out of breath and with that curious mixture of apprehension and hilarity that someone has when they're not sure if you're going to laugh, or go postal.

"House is running a DDX on his new patient with sock puppets!"

Cuddy stood outside the Diagnostic's Lounge. The sight that greeted her was...strange, even for Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, strange even for House. He had his back to them, facing the infamous "White Board". It was actually the eleventh one House had requisitioned since he started working at PPTH...the first one House had put his fist through during a particularly trying case, the second kept collapsing when he leaned on it, the third...and so forth. The last one was transparent, and House had complained it was hard to read. Cuddy, inexpressibly annoyed at the barrage of complaints, had House order it himself through the hospital's supply company. It had survived being tipped to the ground by House's cane, when they had that child with Erdheim-Chester. The sturdy and heavy base easily withstood House leaning on it, both physically and metaphorically. He sometimes stared at it, as if it was some sort of oracle, capable of piercing the veil of mystery that surrounded his patients for its grumpy master, if he only stared at it long enough with his shattering blue eyes. Currently, it held the symptoms of his latest patient, a seventeenth month old baby. And facing it was Dr. Gregory House, one of the most brilliant minds in medicine, and unquestionably a genius in his field. Of course, some geniuses are...eccentric. But not even House had ever been this...strange...

Lying forlornly on the desk is a brown sock, with a grouchy face drawn on it. Apparently, House had become bored playing with the Foreman sock puppet. At this moment, House had socks covering his left and right hands. Both of them had faces drawn in by magic marker, both with green eyes. One had a bunch of long, floppy yellow yarn glued to the top, the other brown yarn, with long bangs. That sock even had a vest, cut out of some brown fabric and expertly sewn together.(After all, House is a doctor, and as Cuddy knew, an expert surgeon.) House had pitched his voice to falsetto...

"But House, what about the skin rash?"

"Blimey Cammy, who cares about the baby? Let's have some nookie!" This time, House had pitched his voice to an annoying Aussie accent.

"Oh, Chase, I don't want to have mindless sex with you anymore. I can't stand Wombat cooties, and your breath stinks!"

"But Cameron, I wuv you! I promise to get de-loused, and I'll stop eating vegemite!"

"No! I can't stand your floppy hair, and you spend more time on it than I do on mine! I'm leaving!" The vest wearing sock tried to leave, but the floppy haired blond sock held on to her...finally the Cameron sock puppet pulled away.

"Wombat! Don't be so clingy and Wilson-like! Just stab her, bury her in the back yard, and tell the neighbors she's stripping in Atlantic City." House said this in his normal voice. He pulled off the Cameron sock puppet, and glared at the Chase puppet.

"But who will I christen storage closets with? Who will I have sex with while searching patient's homes? Who will I have sex with while searching my boss's home?" said House in a squeeky voice, and moving the mouth of the sock with long, floppy yellow yarn. (How had House known? He's House, he knows things. Or makes them up...) There's a look of disbelief on Cuddy's face, and a thoughtful one on Wilson's as he remembers that both Chase and Cameron had mussed clothing when they had come back from Fran's place...

"Chase, you're such a sex-crazed Wombat! Hmmm...I think I'll have Mr. Flibble punish you, because you've been naughty!" House holds up a hand puppet shaped like a penguin with red beady eyes, and wearing a yellow bow tie with orange polka dots. Since neither Cuddy nor Wilson are fans of "Red Dwarf" they have NO idea that House isn't making this stuff up on his own...

"So, Mr. Flibble what do we do with naughty Wombats?" House moves the Mr. Flibble hand puppet close to his ear, and the penguin's mouth moves as if it was whispering something to House...

"Oh NO! Mr. Flibble, we can't possibly do that! Who will clean up the mess? Oh yes, the nurses, right...Chase, Mr. Flibble is going to zap you with his Hex Vision!" House pretends that the Mr. Flibble puppet is zapping the Chase puppet, complete with shaking the arm so it looks like Chase is being hit with some cheap, 90's low budget BBC television special effects...

House now removes both puppets and puts on a Wombat shaped hand puppet...(thank goodness for E-Bay)

"Gah!! House, what did you do to me?! You've turned me into a Wombat! But I have to admit, I feel so liberated, so free to be my true self, wandering around the wilderness...just frolicking among the wildflowers stark naked, reveling in my marsupial-ness! Oh yeah, I still want some nookie!"

"Gah! Even as a Wombat Chase is still as sex-crazed as ever! Oh wait, that's not a surprise. D'uh! I know...I know, Chase, how you can get some nookie." at this point, House pulls out a lighter, and flicks it on.

"Chase, a thousand years ago, this magic flame was found at the bottom of the ocean."

"Its a cheap lighter, House."

"If it was a cheap lighter, you'd be able to blow out the flame."

The Wombat puppet tries to blow out the flame, with House flapping his thumb and four fingers to make it look like Chase is trying to blow out the flame. Both Cuddy and Wilson, still silently observing House through the glass find it hysterical. (And disturbing.)

"Ok, its magic, get on with it, House."

House moves the magic flame around, and the Wombat puppet is mesmerized. "Now keep your eye on the flame, and listen only to the sound of my voice." At this point, Wilson yawns, causing Cuddy to give him the "Loser" sign on her forehead with her thumb and forefinger. Wilson was so...suggestible at times. Geeze!

"House, you sound like a cheap two-bit Vegas hypnosis act."

"Chase, you resist, but the magic flame likes resistance."

"Ok, you're now in the first level of trance, Wombat. What is your name?"

"Stud-ly Wombat." Wilson and Cuddy desperately cover their mouths to keep from giggling.

"All right, Wombat..."

"Call me Stud-ly."

"No, Wombat. We need to do the trick with the Red Mug."

"But I hate the Red Mug."

"No, you love the Red Mug."

"I love the Red Mug."

"And when I tell you to do the trick with the Red Mug, Wombat, I want you to get right into the Red Mug."

"I'm going to get right into the Red Mug."

"Good. Now when I click my finger you're going to wake up feeling refreshed and happy."

"Click."

"I feel refreshed and happy."

"Good. Now Chase, you're going to do the trick with the Red Mug."

House pulls out his infamous Red Mug, and puts it on the table.

"Oh my god."

"What is it, Wombat?"

"It's gorgeous. I'm going to get right into it...

During the performance, as Chase did the nasty with the Red Mug, disgust warred with hilarity in Cuddy and Wilson's faces. House was so...unpredictable.

"Take that you little b1tch!" said the Chase as he...humped the Red Mug.

"Do you have any idea how disgusting that looks, Wombat?"

"Not as bad as the fisting from behind, House!" Cuddy immediately covered her mouth with both hands to suppress her snort. Unfortunately, Wilson couldn't restrain his gasp of laughter, but House ignored it, while making the Chase sock puppet continue his...amorous assault on his Red Mug.

"Yes! Yes! Oooo!" At this point both Wilson and Cuddy were holding their sides tightly to keep from laughing.

"I've lost all respect for the Red Mug, House."

At this point House throws the Red Mug into the trash. Cuddy and Wilson could clearly hear it shatter.

"Ewww...you've defiled my Red Mug, Chase. I don't want it any more. Ick!"

Not even Wilson knew that Cameron had bought the Red Mug for him. A few weeks after Foreman had been hired, House had accidentally drank out of Chase's mug, since at the time, the department had only those hospital issue dark brown ones. He had spewed the brew out of his mouth, managing to cover Chase's hair and face with coffee (and his spit) and stumped away. Cameron had gone to the Pottery Barn after work, and bought the Red Mug for him. House had merely grunted the next day when she had served him his coffee, with half a creme and two sugars, in the new cup. Cameron had given House a tiny half smile, and from hence forth, he would only drink from the container she had bought him. In fact, even in conversation, you could hear the capitals whenever House referred to his "Red Mug". But Cameron had left. She would never again prepare his coffee, and bring it over to him. Truth be told, Cameron did make lousy coffee. But House always drank it because she made it, and made it for him. So House tossed the Red Mug, and when it shattered, it was like...admitting she was finally gone.

Cuddy had had enough. "HOUSE!!" House finally turned around, with his back to his whiteboard, and pretended to be surprised to be seeing both Cuddy and Wilson looking in.

"I think you broke a hundred decibels in that one, Cuddy. Didn't she, Mr. Flibble?" House had put back Mr. Flibble on his right hand. He was so glad he had found the "Red Dwarf" merchandise store on the internet. "Quarantine" in season five was probably his favorite episode, along with the one where Rimmer sang the "Arnold Rimmer" song. He had always identified a bit with Rimmer, except he was too cool to be a total git, and much, much smarter. But Rimmer's complete inability to understand and get along with people, that he could relate to. He had been alienating people since he was in single digits. Only one person had ever understood him, only one person had ever truly cared. And of course, House had killed her. Of course Cameron had left him, he didn't deserve her. He never did. He was such a coward. He had let her go, without a fight, without a single word. If she stayed, someday, she might let him in. She might let him inside, allow him to love her. And when she left, he would be broken past bearing, past mending. It was better that she was gone.

"What about your patient!"

"Ritter disease, Cuddy. Pathology is running tests, and I've already started her on antibiotics."

"Oh. So this whole thing with...the sock puppets?"

"Dr. Cuddy, please don't refer to my new staff as sock puppets. That's so...cold! Isn't it cold, Mr. Flibble?"

"Gah!! Now that you've solved your latest case, get down to the Clinic!"

"Come on, Mr. Flibble, we have to wipe snot-filled noses and treat idiots who got crotch rot."

"And don't you DARE see patients with that hand puppet!" House had started to limp away, and when Cuddy had run up to grab it off his left hand, House taking advantage of his six feet three inches, held Mr. Flibble too high for Cuddy to grab. Wilson looked in disbelief as the distinguished Dean of Medicine jumped up into the air, trying to tear off House's new toy from his left hand.

"Geeze, those two...sometimes, they're just unbelievable." Cuddy and House...sometimes it was like watching two kids playing in a sandbox.

TBC...


	6. Chapter 6

(Author's Note: This is the last of the pre-written chapters before I began posting. Updates will be slower. Sorry. Next chapter will explore WHY Foreman really quit, and hopefully do it better than the show ever did. )

Chapter 6: Bars, Sisters and Men-Bashing

They were both in Allison's apartment, and after she had sex, and he had made love, he had fallen asleep, still cuddling her. Allison was still awake, and trying to figure out what she was feeling. It wasn't love, but maybe, just maybe, she could fall in love with Robert. He was kind, considerate and he was here. He was here. God, House was annoying. Even when he wasn't here, even when she had walked out, even when she had left him, he was the proverbial skeleton at the feast. Somehow, she was caught like a fly in amber, she couldn't take a step forward without a step back. Twords him. Chase was her attempt to break free, to finally be rid of HIM. The man who haunted her very dreams, the man she couldn't help but compare every other man she had met or known against. And found wanting.

"Allison, I love you." Chase muttered in his sleep, and Cameron froze in...a mixture of emotions too...intense to sort out. She gently pulled away, and as Chase snuggled toward the warm spot left by her body, Allison Cameron silently got off her bed, and walked to her living room. She slipped on her favorite warm, fuzzy robe, and sat down on her couch, hugging her legs to herself, and tried to think.

Robert Chase opened his eyes, and his eyes stung as he blinked back his tears. She didn't love him.

Allison felt like the ceiling was falling in on her, that the very ground was shaking and the world was spinning out of her control. She didn't love Robert, she never had. She loved, she desperately loved a man who didn't love her, a man who she couldn't help loving, even at his most cruel, most hateful. She hated him for making her feel that way, she hated herself for being so weak and pitiful, and she was caught. She was caught. She was caught like an insect in amber. And she couldn't see a way out. Or she didn't want to see a way out. She didn't know anymore. She needed her sister. Cameron sat in her couch until the sun rose, hugging herself. She needed to think...

Robbie had left in the morning, muttering something vague about "Needing some time apart." Allison had immediately realized that last night had probably been a ploy, a trick for Robert to find out what she really thought of him. And as her answer had been unspoken, she saw from his stiff and unbending posture his own decision. It was over. Robert Chase walked out of Cameron's apartment curiously free and relieved. He had known from the very beginning that her love wasn't for him to win. Her love wasn't even for her to give away. She was inevitably, impossibly, locked into House. They had been living a lie for the past few months, and it was time for him to get away. Robert headed for his favorite diner for a cheese omelet. He needed to think...

(Later that day, in Seattle at the Emerald City Bar)

"He's a drug addict, Allison!" began Angela Dashiell Adler. Every year, in June, they'd get together for two weeks. They did sister things, like shop, chat, shop, visit their mother, drink and then shop, talk each other's ears off about how sucky their lives were, shop, complain about men, and shop. Oh, did I mention they'd shop? Binge shopping was not in their nature, even when depressed they were far too sensible, but it was so much fun looking at dresses and shoes.

"I hope so, Angie. God, I hope so."

"You're not making any sense, Allie. Did you completely lose your mind, or something?" For the last three years, Angela had been trying to get Allison Irene Adler...oopse, Allison Irene Cameron, to stop obsessing about her misanthropic jerk of a boss, one Gregory "Manipulative Bastid" House.

People looked at her funny when they found out her middle name. Their parents had been life long mystery buffs, and they had even met in an auction...they had both bid on the same item. It was a faded and ragged copy of the July 1891 issue of "Strand Magazine" containing the first Sherlock Holmes short story to be published, "A Scandal in Bohemia". Because of the badly deteriorated condition, both of their parents had thought they could afford it. They had lost however, to an obnoxious and obviously rich Englishman, who proceeded to carelessly toss the much covetted item to his pregnant "companion". Both Thomas Adler and Elizabeth Lowry had seen that while she wore a wedding ring, he didn't. Their shared commiserations at a coffeehouse at losing the treasure that they had both been willing to spend more than they could afford, and seeing it handled that...that...disrespectfully, had led to dinner, and a year later, marriage. Angela Dashiell Adler had been named after the great American detective novel author, Samuel "Dashiell Hammett", the author of "The Maltese Falcon" and other classics. Allison Irene Adler had obviously been named after "the Woman" for Sherlock Holmes, as chronicled by his historian, Arthur Conan Doyle.

"Do you remember that old, schoolyard taunt, Angie? I may be fat, but you're ugly, and I can always lose weight. If House is a drug addict, he can be treated. You can't cure addiction, but he could stay clean. But if he is really in enough pain, enough suffering to require that much vicodin, that pain, if it can't be cured..." Allison's voice broke off as she tried to conceive of House, of anyone in that much constant pain. To have a daily eight or even higher on the pain scale. Every damned day. Every damned hour of every damned day. Every damned minute of every damned hour of every damned day. Every damned second... Any other person would have long since seriously considered suicide as an option, against the constant, unbearable pain. But this was House, there was no way to predict how he'd deal with it...

"No way, Allie. You told me that he's above all else a rational, logical person. Wouldn't he have done something about it? You keep telling me he's one of the best doctors on the planet, so wouldn't it make sense that he'd have done something, anything? Even amputating his leg, if necessary. If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out." Good old Angela, she always made Allison feel better. She was so sensible, such a counterpoint to the often too emotional and caring Allison. She was right, House would have taken steps...

"By the way, Allie, what ever happened to that boyfriend of yours? Robbie, right?" Classic conversational diversion. This topic was way too emotionally raw for Allison to deal with right now...

"Um...I don't know. I don't think it's going to work out, frankly. I don't think he's the one for me."

"Did you break up with him?"

"No, yes, well, I don't really know."

"Complete cerebral flatulence alert! Allison, your brain is releasing more uncontrolled gas than a Texas Cowboy who only lives on franks and beans!"

"Um...sorry, but it's complicated..."

"It usually is complicated, with men. Gawd, why don't they come with warning labels?" Angela asked.

"Because then the human race would die out." replied Allison. Great, it was time for the ritual men-bashing that they began every year after their second drink at Joe's. Angela worked at Seattle Grace Hospital, as Vice Director (yes, there had been inevitable teasing from Allison) of Human Resources. The Emerald City Bar was the tavern slash restaurant slash hangout that both the doctors and support staff at Seattle Grace frequented. Joe, the owner was popular for his easy going manner, kind heart and the spicy buffalo wings. Both sisters had large platters of the delicious, tangy treats in front of them. This annual "Sisters Day" was a blanket pardon for all diets and calorie counting. Both sisters picked up a wing, and took a large bite.

"There is no way to eat these without getting sauce all over your fingers."

"Part of the fun, Allison."

"Yeah, I guess. But why don't they have those cute little paper handles you can buy at a kitchen supply store for turkey drumsticks? And why are they called buffalo wings anyway? They're chicken wings, not buffalo. Buffalo wings make me think of these huge bison flapping around with these tiny wings, trying to fly. And walking around on two rear hooves."

"Spill."

"What?"

"You only babble when you've got something you need to get off your chest. Come on, Allison, this is your big sis. The one who bought you your first bra, because you got tired of the 'trainers'. Why do they call them 'trainers' anyway? Are they suppose to train your boobs to grow?"

Allison gurgled laughter. Even when growing up, Allison had always been the serious one, the thinker, planner and work-aholic. Allison had always envied her sister's easy manner, humor, and her popularity. (Especially with the boys.) Allison had always been the "Family Hope" for accomplishing something meaningful, the brainy one, and not the ditz and clown like Angie-Dash. Allison had been the serious one, the one who sought meaning, the one who read between the lines, the one who planned for fun. Except when she was with Angela. Angela had always been able to get her to breathe milk through her nose, cheer her up when she got only a "B+" on a midterm, and make her giggle with her comments about the opposite sex. And only Angela got to see the funny Allison, when she dropped her "serious deep-thought face" and tried, pitifully to make a sports metaphor.

"He...told me, actually he muttered in his sleep that he loved me."

"And?"

"I don't love him."

"Allison...are you sure?"

"I've been lying to myself, and lying to him all these months, Angie. I don't love Chase, I'm in love with..." Allison's face crumpled at this point, and Angela gathered her little sister into her arms. Angela couldn't understand how Allison could obsess about someone who was so cruel and mean to her, her ex-boss, one Gregory House. She couldn't understand why Allison didn't want someone kind, cute, funny, handsome and so obviously in love with her little sister, one Robert Chase. Nothing Allison had told her about Gregory House made any sense, especially how he could possibly hurt someone as sweet, gentle and loving as Allison. He was a monster, he was the biggest jerk in the world!

"Allison, why can't you just drop it about House? He's pushed you away, he's been deliberately cruel and sadistic! He doesn't deserve you! Don't you DARE tell me you're still in love with him!" Angela rubbed circles on Allison's back, as she had done so often in their childhood. The Adlers had known their share of heartache and pain in the past, and it had been her sensitive and caring little sister who felt things the most deeply. Starting with their father's suicide...

"I can't help it, Angela! House is..." began Allison, tearing up.

"A JERK!" At this Allison began frantically shaking her head.

"He's...the only truly honest and good man I've ever met."

Angela sat back in complete and utter surprise, her eyes and mouth wide open...was she INSANE?

TBC...


End file.
